Luke 1

1 ¹Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, ²even as they delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, ³it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus; ⁴that thou mightest know the certainty concerning the things wherein thou wast instructed. ⁵There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ⁶And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. ⁸Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, ⁹according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense. ¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense. ¹²And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and he shall drink no wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶And many of the children of Israel shall be turn unto the Lord their God. ¹⁷And he shall go before his face in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to walk in the wisdom of the just; to make ready for the Lord a people prepared for him. ¹⁸And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. ¹⁹And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak unto thee, and to bring thee these good tidings. ²⁰And behold, thou shalt be silent and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall come to pass, because thou believedst not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. ²¹And the people were waiting for Zacharias, and they marvelled while he tarried in the temple. ²²And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb. ²³And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house. ²⁴And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men. ²⁶Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. ²⁹But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be. ³⁰And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. ³¹And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. ³²He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: ³³and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. ³⁴And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren. ³⁷For no word from God shall be void of power. ³⁸And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. ³⁹And Mary arose in these days and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; ⁴⁰and entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit; ⁴²and she lifted up her voice with a loud cry, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come unto me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the voice of thy salutation came into mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵And blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from the Lord. ⁴⁶And Mary said,

My soul doth magnify the Lord,

⁴⁷And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

⁴⁸For he hath looked upon the low estate of his handmaid:

For behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

⁴⁹For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;

And holy is his name.

⁵⁰And his mercy is unto generations and generations

On them that fear him.

⁵¹He hath showed strength with his arm;

He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their heart.

⁵²He hath put down princes from their thrones,

And hath exalted them of low degree.

⁵³The hungry he hath filled with good things;

And the rich he hath sent empty away.

⁵⁴He hath given help to Israel his servant,

That he might remember mercy

⁵⁵(As he spake unto our fathers)

Toward Abraham and his seed for ever.

⁵⁶And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned unto her house. ⁵⁷Now Elisabeth's time was fulfilled that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbors and her kinsfolk heard that the Lord had magnified his mercy towards her; and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And it came to pass on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him Zacharias, after the name of the father. ⁶⁰And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John. ⁶¹And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name. ⁶²And they made signs to his father, what he would have him called. ⁶³And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all. ⁶⁴And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, blessing God. ⁶⁵And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea. ⁶⁶And all that heard them laid them up in their heart, saying, What then shall this child be? For the hand of the Lord was with him. ⁶⁷And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying,

⁶⁸Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;

For he hath visited and wrought redemption for his people,

⁶⁹And hath raised up a horn of salvation for us

In the house of his servant David

⁷⁰(As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets that have been from of old),

⁷¹Salvation from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;

⁷²To show mercy towards, our fathers,

And to remember his holy covenant;

⁷³The oath which he spake unto Abraham our father,

⁷⁴To grant unto us that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies

Should serve him without fear,

⁷⁵In holiness and righteousness before him all our days.

⁷⁶Yea and thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Most High:

For thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to make ready his ways;

⁷⁷To give knowledge of salvation unto his people

In the remission of their sins,

⁷⁸Because of the tender mercy of our God,

Whereby the dayspring from on high shall visit us,

⁷⁹To shine upon them that sit in darkness and the shadow of death;

To guide our feet into the way of peace.

⁸⁰And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel.